Govt to bring back Pakistan’s past economic glory: Tarin

ISLAMABAD: The government wants to bring back Pakistan’s past economic glory when the country was one of the four largest economies in the Asian region, a senior official said.

Addressing as chief guest in “Kamyab Jawan Convention”, jointly organised by the Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ICCI) and Kamyab Jawan programme at the ICCI Auditorium, Adviser to the Prime Minister on Finance and Revenue Shaukat Tarin said: “Back in the 60s, we were counted with the economies like China and Japan, as we were economically strong.”

The government is focusing on human resource capital and the Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs), which would be the government’s top priority.

Talking about employment opportunities, the adviser said, raising the tax-to-GDP ratio to 20 per cent could improve the country’s growth rate and provide employment opportunities to the youth.

The current tax-to-GDP ratio in Pakistan is 9 per cent, which, he said, is very low and needed to be doubled to 20 per cent.

“There is no way out without paying taxes because we use the resources of this country, so taxes are obligatory on all sections, including traders,” he said.

Tarin said that no one has the right to use national resources without paying taxes, adding that the government is working hard on human capital and interest-free loans and skills development courses for the young people, agricultural loans, home loans in easy installments and health cards are steps in this direction.

“According to the vision of Prime Minister Imran Khan, we are taking important policy steps for the youth,” he said, adding that the young population is 60 per cent of the country without which the country cannot move forward.